Tears of Pearls
by Lune-Solei
Summary: All these mixed emotions we keep locked away. Like stolen pearls. Stolen pearl devotions we keep locked away. From all the world...


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Lyoko or "Tears of Pearls." The show is owned by AnteFilms and the song is owned by Savage Garden. This was written for fun, not profit.

**Rating:** PG

**Pairing:** Kinda obvious...and slightly surprise.

**Author's Note:** My sixth Savage Garden Code Lyoko songfic. Be proud, very, very proud. This was written for a challenge the lovely and wonderful Katie-Kae sent to me. In other words, yes, it is _another_ fic dedicated to her. But hey, at times, she's my muse. Like now. The next one will be _Truly Madly Deeply_ in response to the request placed by Sithking Zero. Please enjoy.

* * *

**And we stare each other down like victims in the grind  
Probing all the weakness and hurt still left behind  
And we cry the tears of pearls  
We do it. Oh we do it**

She closed the book with a sharp _snap_ looking up at him. He was staring back at her from the other side of the coffee table and she sighed inwardly, brushing back a few loose strands of dark hair that had fallen forward while she was reading, or rather, attempting to. She had been trying to push her mind away from what it was inevitably drawn back to, tried to entertain it with some English romance, but to no avail and really it was all his fault. If he had quit staring at her after the first hour then she would have been able to concentrate but no, he just couldn't do it.

"Yes?" she asked, demanded rather, aggravated with herself, him, the book, and basically the world. He looked blank, blinked a couple of times slowly, and raised a shoulder in a half hearted shrug. She groaned, flopping back into the worn cushions of the sofa and looked at him.

He didn't look good. His face was pale, except for the shadows around his eyes, and drawn, giving him a slightly skeletal look. She frowned, worry coating over her anxiety. He didn't seem to notice her staring or maybe he didn't mind as much as she did. She had heard about the break-up, everyone had heard of it to some degree but no one, besides close friends, knew what had really happened.

"Are you alright?" she asked. He gave a slight inclination of his head, she took it as a nod and settled back into the cushions, reopening the book and finding her place quickly.

_Jane's breath came quickly while she felt her heart pound fiercely in her chest, rattling her ribs around, as he stopped before her. He was expertly dressed, as always, in a finely tailored suit of midnight black and his hair was pulled neatly away from his face, gathered at the nape of his neck by a black silk ribbon. He bowed before her, the light from the chandelier reflecting on his creamy skin and the deep black attire, the orchestra seeming to swell so that they were cocooned in an oasis of their own. He smiled at her, teeth flashing, eyes dark and glittering. "Would you care to dance, Lady Jane?" he asked, smooth as the silk they both wore. She nodded, unable to say anything as his head bent, lips brushing her hand..._

She slammed the book shut, feeling the tears threatening to fall. She tossed the book onto the dull coffee table, standing quickly, refusing to cry in such an open and full room as the common room. She refused to let the others know the pain she still felt at her own break up, nearly a month ago. It was still so raw though, she felt her heart ache each time she saw him with his new girlfriend.

She wasn't aware that she had left the room, found her way to the back staircase leading to the dorms, until the heavy metal door slammed shut behind her, ominous in the stillness. She knew she couldn't make it back to the safety of her own bedroom, even to the girl's bathroom, without crying so she sank down onto the cold concrete stair and buried her face in her arms.

She was still crying, sniffles alternating to sobs, when the door opened and she heard quiet footsteps approach her. A warm body wedged itself between the rail and herself, settling in on the cold floor and she felt herself leaning into the warmth without realizing it completely. An arm, thin yet lightly muscled, wrapped around her shoulders, allowing her to lean into the body. She knew who it was without looking up.

**Is love really the tragedy the way you might describe?  
Or would a thousand lovers still leave you cold inside?  
Make you cry...  
These tears of pearls**

She sniffled, looking up at him, knowing she would either see a vague glaze in his eyes or a look of understanding and care. She was pleased to see it was the second one. They had both been hurt, it only stood to reason that they would end up together, if not in the way that most people associated the word with, to comfort each other. They had been friends before, why not now?

"Thanks," she sniffed as he handed her a Kleenex, she didn't ask why he had them.

"No problem," he responded, gruffly, and she wondered if he had cried when he had been dumped. Maybe it was just a girl reaction, but how could anyone _not_ cry when they felt so alone and trapped inside? "Aren't you cold?" he asked after a few more minutes.

"Not really," she replied, knowing that it was the truth. She hadn't really felt anything since the day that he had broken up with her, when he had told her that they needed to see other people, and later that day hooked up with another girl. No, she hadn't really experienced anything since. "Are you?"

"No," he admitted softly. She nodded, looking at her shoes. They were brown and scuffed along the toes, she frowned, trying to remember what she had done to get them like that. She couldn't really remember. The world had been such a blur recently. "You okay now?" he asked.

"No, but I'm better," she told him, giving him the best smile she could manage. "Are you? Alright I mean." He nodded slowly, reverting back to his old self, the calm, collected one that refused to show any emotion that wasn't absolutely necessary. She sighed. "Come on Ulrich, talk to me," she protested, adjusting her glasses.

"I'm alright Em," he told her quietly.

"Are you sure?"

"It was over a long time before she ended it," he explained, voice halting every so often.

"Love sucks," she muttered darkly, causing him to laugh softly. "It's true." For the first time she noticed the book clutched in his other hand, hanging loosely in his grasp, pages crinkled slightly. "My book," she said in surprise.

"Thought you might want it," he replied calmly. He looked at her, noticing her face and nodded, lightly tossing it and catching it. He made it look effortless. "Maybe not?" he suggested. She only nodded, looking back at her scuffed shoes.

She had loved him once, Ulrich, not the other one, or maybe liked greatly. She wasn't sure if it really was love, after all, what was love? She had thought she was in love with...the other one, could she not even think his name without pain now, but that had been wrong. She had been wrong. She brushed her hair away from her face finally, sitting up straighter.

"Thanks a lot, for...everything. I think I better get going though," she murmured, standing slowly. He stopped tossing the book when it was in mid air, letting his hand fall limp in his lap, the book landed with a soft thud on the concrete stairs. "Bye," she whispered.

**All these mixed emotions we keep locked away  
Like stolen pearls  
Stolen pearl devotions we keep locked away  
From all the world**

He followed her up the stairs, feeling the air get cooler the higher they went. There were vents cut into the outside walls at odd intervals, allowing the wet night air to flow in and fetter out. Freezing in the winter and hot as heck in the summer. She stopped two floors up, hand resting lightly on the rusting metal rail, turning back to look over her shoulder at him. He could see the tear lines glistening on her pale face in the fading light.

"You're following me," she said with the hint of surprise lacing her voice. "Why?"

He scuffed his sneaker on the concrete, looking down the flights of stairs they had climbed, he could see her book sitting on the landing below, before lifting his eyes up to hers again. "I guess I don't think either of us really want to be alone right now," he suggested finally.

She leaned back against the wall, feeling the cold seep into her numb body and nodding slowly. The clock chimed the hour outside, echoing through the holes in the walls and ringing down the stairwell, echoes drowning out any noises either of them made, followed by the dull banging of a worn and much-used gong.

"Supper," she said softly. He looked up at her, checking to see if she wanted to eat or something, but she only looked puzzled.

"Are you hungry?" he prompted. He knew the answer to the question himself, he hadn't eaten much since the break up a few months ago. That was one of the reasons why Jim hadn't let him play soccer this season, he kept passing out in the heat because he pushed himself to hard. But soccer was the way he forgot about everything. He could guess that she did the same.

"No, are you?" she replied slowly. He shook his head slowly and she nodded, coming down a few stairs, rust flecking off the railing, until she was standing on the step above him. He tilted his head, looking at her, silently asking her what she was doing.

"Do you want to..."

"Yeah, sure," he replied. She nodded and they ascended the stairs together, only their soft breathing interrupting the quiet stairwell. Outside the concrete confines they could hear the students voices ringing, laughing and screaming, as they raced to the cafeteria for supper, the doors of the stairwell below them swung open, rebounding off the walls as students avoided the packed main stairs and took alternate routes. They stopped, standing close to the wall and waited until the final echoes of the youngest children faded into silence.

In the quiet that followed he looked at her, noticing the way her brown hair hung like limp silk around her face, the fading sunlight catching on her pale skin and shining on her glasses. She raised an eyebrow at him, noticing him watching once more and once again he gave the half shrug and watched her smile, ducking her head to hide it and smother her laugh.

"Come on," he said suddenly, causing her to look up in surprise. He gripped her wrist but she twisted her hand so that their hands were clasped instead. He smiled at her, leading her up the stairs to the door leading out onto the roof top.

**Your kisses are like pearls, so different and so rare  
But anger stole the jewels away and love has left you bare  
Made you cry...  
These tears of pearls**

They stood atop the flat of the roof, watching clouds scud quietly by above them, neither of them speaking. He turned to her, watching the wind blow around the domed peaks and play with her hair, twisting dark strands in its grasp. She turned to him as well, head tilted to one side, watching him calmly.

Neither could say who it was that lead the way across the roof top, westerly, behind the small cubical housing the door and stairwell, until they reached the ledge overlooking the wood behind the school and the setting sun glowing orange, red, and gold in the sky, hints of purple and pink highlighting the glowing disc as it sank behind the dark blur of trees.

Below them they could see the students still meandering down the path and along breeze ways, the loiters around the cafeteria doors. They both knew that their friends, along with the rest of the school, were in there, eating their fill of the prepared supper, knew that they weren't missed much, if at all, and that the others were well used to their absence.

"It's beautiful," she sighed, drawing his attention to her once more. She leaned forward, chin propped on her hand, which was propped on the low wall running along the roof. The wind hissed and roared around them, whipping her hair into her face, then his, then hers once more. "I've always enjoyed the sunset, more so then the sunrise, I'm not exactly sure why at the moment. People say that a sunrise brings life, a sunset foretells death." Her face closed in slightly, the joy receding. "Then again, maybe that is why."

"No, the sunset's...more calming," he said slowly, turning his attention back to the swirl of colors over the dark sea of trees. He remembered bringing Yumi to the Riviera one break, they had sat there and watched the sun rise over the ocean, staring at the reflection in the choppy waves.

That had been for their first anniversary, a year before she cheated on him, a year-and-a-half before she left him abruptly with nothing but a short conversation saying she wanted to see other people, that they were better off as friends. He supposed she had been right, they had never really clicked as boyfriend-girlfriend. It was hard when you knew everything about each other, though in theory that should make it easier.

Her thoughts were floating along on a similar train of thought, remembering brief instances in which he had shown kindness to her, when he had believed her to be worthwhile to him. People, countless friends and family, had told her he was no good for her but she had tuned them out, hadn't believed them. No, he hadn't abused her, physically, more emotionally she realized now. He had twisted her thoughts around so that she believed everything he happened to say.

She could remember watching the sunrise with him, dreading the upcoming day, grateful for when the sun would sink behind the school and the night rolled in, thick and velvet, blue-black and safe, the stars and moon casting soft light upon the world instead of the harsh sunlight that would otherwise lighten it. The night was full of shadows, was full of misconceptions, she had loved the night.

**Well I could be the tired joker, pour my heart to get you in  
Sacrifice my happiness just so I could win  
****Maybe cry...  
These tears of pearls**

He turned toward her, slowly, feeling sluggish, almost as if they were both underwater, or maybe he just was. No, she had those faint, blurred edges like objects did when they were underwater. She reached up absentmindedly, catching crystalline tears on her fingertips and he marveled at how they resembled pearls. His mother had this one necklace, a teardrop pearl, that she always wore. He was reminded of it.

She sighed loudly and looked at him, remorse showing heavily in her dark eyes. "You must think me weak, or a baby, something along those lines at any rate," she muttered darkly, sniffling back her tears. "Who cries over something that's died so long ago?"

He thought for a second, wondering if she was really asking him or if it was rhetorical. She turned away, a curtain of brown separating them once more and he realized that she had been expecting an answer from him. To late now, he sighed, leaning over the wall and watching the ant-sized Jim chasing the last of the stragglers into the cafeteria. He saw one ant-shape with black hair and froze, but realized it was Sissi when he heard a tinny voice screech up to his ears.

"It's...peaceful...up here," he said finally. She nodded, turning and with a slight strain pushed herself up onto the wall, legs dangling, blanketed from the wind in deep shadows. She wiped her face on a sleeve as he watched her nervously, the wind whipped her hair into her face, played with his open shirt, pulling it this way and that. "Do you ever wonder..."

She looked up but he had stopped, a frown creasing his face as he stared off into the distance. The sun had almost set now, just the tip of the glowing circle was visible in the glowing sky, muted yet enhanced at the same time by the wood. She pulled a hair tie off her wrist, snapping it accidentally against her fingers and cursing softly. "Wonder what?" she asked as she tied the ribbons of her hair back, allowing her to see him properly.

He shifted before kicking a stone across the rooftop, watching it skid along the tar until it hit the wall further down. "Wonder what would of happened," he replied slowly, calculating the best way to phrase what it was that he wanted to say.

"If what?" she prompted, confusion evident in her voice but understanding beginning to glitter in her eyes.

"If all of this had never happened."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Her legs swung slowly, the backs of her shoes clunking against the brick wall as she waited for him to find his voice, or rather, to translate his thoughts properly into words. He ran a hand through his hair, she noticed he did that quite a lot when he was nervous or unprepared for something. She had found that endearing at one point, did she still?

"If...neither of us had ended up with who we were with. Would we...Do you ever wonder..."

"...What would have happened if we had stayed together?" she asked softly. He nodded and she sighed, leaning back on locked arms, looking at the deep blue dancing across the sky. "I suppose I do, once in awhile. Quite honestly, I was upset when you returned to Yumi, though I had never expected anything to come out of our relationship."

"That's why you hooked up with Odd?"

"I guess..." A brief pause as she attempted to gather her thoughts. Why had she hooked up with the blonde? She couldn't remember now, but he had been fun, before he moved on to the next girl that is. Who was the next girl? She couldn't remember now. "Honestly, he asked and I accepted. There really wasn't a reason for it."

He nodded and she wondered if he was happy or upset with her answer, she couldn't tell at any rate. "I think I regretted it for a time...then I didn't," she looked away and he hurried on, "then I did again, later on. We always seemed to get along."

"You seemed to get along with her, I seemed to get along with him. Everyone _seems_ to get along with everyone else until they find out that they don't."

She shoved off the wall, landing with a soft thud on the tar so that they were standing somewhat level with each other. They had both grown over the years, that seemed to happen though once you hit puberty, at least with guys anyway. He was nearly a head taller than her now, Odd was a full head and Jeremie...well he was about half-a-head.

"I wish I hadn't gone with her."

"I know."

**All these mixed emotions we keep locked away  
Like stolen pearls  
Stolen pearl devotions we keep locked away  
From all the world **

She saw him leaning in toward her, felt the space closing in around her, them. Her eyes fluttered and she fought the panic rising in her body. Time had passed, months had passed, it was alright now. She could move on. Her hair fell free of the tie and cascaded down her back, over her shoulders, and she watched as he reached up, tucking a strand behind her ear.

Then their mouths met and she was drowning in a sea of emotions. She remembered the first time they had kissed, years ago though it seemed like scarce hours. They had both been awkward then, thirteen years of age with no experience prior. It had been an accident, neither had planned it, it was when they were both hanging out after school, when Yumi was apparently still upset with him. They had been playing soccer, he was teaching her the proper way to play, not like when her brothers had attempted to teach her. They had slipped in the mud and had crashed into each other, becoming entangled and flustered. It was only natural that to add to their embarrassment they would kiss.

Now though, now they were experienced in the art of kissing, it was no longer they shy, awkwardness that accompanied first kisses. Yet it was still shy, like they had picked up exactly where they left off. She could remember her first kiss with the other, the one who had left her, and it had never been like this, even in his most tinder and loving moments. Instead, they had always been harsh and painful.

He could remember his first kiss with Yumi, could remember how it had never been shy or careful. It had never been brutal, but yet it had missed the, the...sweetness...of this one, of both the kisses he had shared with her. He reached up slowly, unsure of his own actions, brushing his fingers through her hair. It really was like silk. He couldn't help but feel that this moment, this precise second of time, was the best of his life so far.

They were both grateful for second chances.

She broke away suddenly, feeling her head spin. She had to grip the wall for support, knuckles turning white. She felt more than heard him shift behind her, nervousness coating both of them in its sticky grasp. She had to laugh at the whole situation but it came out strangled and choked and she shook her head, looking at him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. He looked at her, concern lighting his eyes up, showing more life than he had since the break-up. "I didn't mean to laugh...it's just. It's really quite funny, don't you think? I've been kissed dozens of times, and I imagine so have you, yet we're acting like...like...like thirteen year olds on their first date." She rolled her eyes for emphasis as he watched her carefully. "It's ridiculous, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he muttered, looking away. To the east the sky was black and glittering with millions of white diamonds, glowing softly in the black velvet. He looked at her when he felt the cold hand press against his face, turning his eyes to hers.

"I really missed you Ulrich," she whispered. He smiled back at her, watching her face glow with happiness and joy as she smiled wide.

"Come on," he said, grasping her hand firmly in his, "lets go."

**We twist and turn where angels burn  
Like fallen soldiers we will learn  
That once forgotten twice removed  
Love will be the death...  
The death of you**

The next day Odd awoke to find his roommate's bed empty. He frowned, sitting up and dressing quickly, heading down to the cafeteria for breakfast. He knew that Ulrich wouldn't be there, Ulrich didn't eat anywhere but in his, their, room anymore. They knew it was because of Yumi but Odd never mentioned it, only brought up the tray of food silently to be picked at. Why should today be any different?

He stopped outside of Jeremie's room, listening as he heard the raised voices. It appeared that Jer and Aelita were in the middle of another fight. He sighed, straightening quickly as the door swung open and Aelita stepped out of the room, arms crossed over her chest and blue eyes narrowed.

"Hey Ai, what's up?" he asked calmly, carefully. It seemed that all his friends did lately was argue.

"He's such a...such a..." Jer appeared in the doorway and she threw up her hands screaming "argh!" to the entire floor and stormed away. Odd looked at the blonde but he only shrugged in response, rolling his eyes at Aelita's tantrum.

They made it downstairs, across the courtyard, and entered the cafeteria. Odd felt strange, like a telephone, relaying messages and trying to keep the conversation flowing. Jer and Ai were still not exactly talking to each other. Ai stopped suddenly, eyes wide, and gripped Odd's arm, causing him to stop as well as Jer.

Sitting at the table next to the large window were two familiar faces that had rarely been seen outside of the main buildings. Ulrich was leaning forward, talking and laughing with Emily who seemed just as happy. The three friends could do nothing but stand and stare, unsure of how to proceed. Odd looked up, finding the Japanese girl in the crowd of students. Her black eyes were fixed on the table, watching the two laugh and talk, watching the carefree attitude exuding off of him, different than how he had been when she was with him. He couldn't help but suppress the smile.

Others seemed aware of the change as well, talking and laughing, and smiling as they watched the new couple. Yes, it was confirmed they were a couple when they stood, dumping their trays, empty trays, into the trash can and then take hands. He watched Yumi's smile freeze as Ulrich leaned in, kissing Emily lightly before they both headed for the doors.

"Hey guys, see you in class?" Ulrich asked. They could do nothing but nod and Odd hoped fervently that this romance was better than the last one, for the both of them.

**All these mixed emotions we keep locked away  
Like stolen pearls  
Stolen pearl devotions we keep locked away  
From all the world**


End file.
